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Dec 28, 2019

Jalapeño Cheese Bread with Corn

This jalapeño cheese bread with corn is loaded with oozing cheese, sliced jalapeño peppers, and corn.

How do you feel about burnt cheese? The kind that gets all melty and then forms a crust of goodness. If you're with me on this, you must make this bread.
This bread is a variation of this Gruyère cheese bread, except these loaves also have two kinds of cheese, jalapeños, some corn meal, and corn kernels. These loaves are so cheesy and delicious, and the jalapeño chiles totally mellow out while the bread is baking.

Just take a look at how the cheeses oozed out and formed a delicious crust on my latest loaf of this bread.

Ingredients you will need to make this cheesy jalapeño bread:

Cornmeal: I used standard yellow cornmeal.

Jalapeño chiles.

Frozen or fresh corn kernels.

Mozzarella cheese.

Gruyère cheese. You could also substitute Swiss cheese or Emmental cheese.

The dough for this bread is pretty sticky. While you can knead it by hand, it is much easier to mix in a stand mix. My favorite mixer is the KitchenAid 7 quart pro line (affiliate link).

How to Make this Jalapeño Cheese Bread:

This bread takes two days to make, most of it down time. First, you mix some flour, water, and a bit of instant yeast, cover it, and let it rest at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours. This will add lots of flavor to the bread.

On baking day, first soften the corn meal in boiling water, add the honey and butter, and let it cool. Next, add the preferment from day one, the yeast, and about a third of the flour, and mix with the paddle attachment of your stand mixer.

After that, add the 3/4 of the chiles, the salt, and 2/3 of the corn.

Next, switch to the dough hook and mix the dough, adding enough of the rest of the flour until you have a slightly sticky dough. Let the dough rise until it has doubled.

To form the loaves, spread the dough out into a rectangle, and spread the cheeses and the rest of the chiles and corn kernels over the dough. Next, roll the dough up jelly roll style, and let it rise until puffy.

When you are ready to bake the bread, slice it into 2 or three slices, set the slices, cut side up (and down) on a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake until golden and the interior reaches about 200 degrees F, 30 to 40 minutes.

Tips for Making Jalapeño Cheese Bread:

This dough is super sticky. It can be frustrating if you're not used to working with sticky dough. Don't stress too much about how the loaves look, or making sure they are perfectly shaped. They will rise nicely in the oven, and the oozing cheese will cover a lot of flaws.

There is a lot of cheese filling in this bread, and it may pop out a lot when you roll up the dough and also when you slice and try to stand it up on the baking sheet. Again, don't worry too much about how it looks. You'll be very happy with your final loaves... especially the flavors!

Make-ahead Tips:

You can make this bread and freeze the loaves by wrapping them in foil and then plastic wrap. To reheat the bread, thaw and then bake wrapped in foil at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes.

You can also refrigerate the bread right after cutting it overnight and bake it the next day. Let it rest at room temperature for 90 minutes before baking.

Jalapeño Cheese Bread with Corn

This bread is delicious straight from the oven. It's also delicious toasted and buttered. Toast it for breakfast and top it with a fried egg or avocado, or serve it sliced in a bread basket with soup or stew for dinner.

Jalapeño Cheese Bread with Corn Recipe

Yield: 2 to 3 loaves

Author: Karen Kerr

This jalapeño cheese bread with corn is loaded with oozing cheese, sliced jalapeño peppers, and corn.

ingredients:

For the Preferment

5.25 ounces (1 1/4 C) unbleached bread flour

1/4 tsp. instant yeast

3/4 C water

For the Final Dough

1 3/4 C water

1/4 C cornmeal

2 T honey

2 T butter

All of the preferment

1 tsp instant yeast

15 oz (3 1/2 C) bread flour, divided

2 tsp salt

1 C Jalapeños, seeded and diced, divided

3/4 C (frozen, fresh, or canned) corn, divided

1 1/2 C grated mozzarella cheese

1 1/2 C grated Gruyere cheese

instructions:

How to cook Jalapeño Cheese Bread with Corn Recipe

Day One: Whisk the flour and yeast together in a bowl. Add the water, mix, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let it sit at room temperature overnight (12 to 18 hours).

Day Two: Bring water and cornmeal to a boil in a sauce pan, stirring occasionally.

Remove from the heat. Add the honey and the butter. Add the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer and stir occasionally until the mixture reaches 110 degrees.

Add in the preferment (day one mixture), the yeast, and 4.25 ounces (1 C) of the flour, mix on low speed with the flat beater. Add the salt, 3/4 C of the Jalapeños and 1/2 C of the corn.

Switch to the dough hook and, at low speed, start to add the flour in 1/2 C increments until the dough reaches a slightly sticky/tacky consistency. It should stick to the bottom of the bowl, but clear the sides. Err on the side of sticky. If it's humid, you may need more flour, and if it's not, you may need less. Continue to knead at low speed for 8 minutes.

Lightly oil a bowl or dough rising bucket and add the dough. Spray the top with spray oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough double in size (one to two hours). Deflate the dough by pushing it down, cover, and allow to double in size a second time (one to two hours).

Sprinkle the counter with flour, and place the dough on the flour. Sprinkle the top of the dough with more flour. Press the dough into a 12 inch by 12 inch square.

Mix the cheeses, the rest of the chiles, and the rest of the corn together and spread the mixture over the dough. Roll the dough into a log and press the seam to hold it together.

At this point, you can wrap it in a well-floured dish towel (not terrycloth) or spray it with oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rest until it gets puffy but not necessarily doubled, approximately 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 and oil or line a baking sheet with parchment, and sprinkle with cornmeal.

Very gently cut the log into three equal pieces and place cut sides up on the baking sheet. Slightly fan out the tops of the loaves so the cheese is exposed. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.